Sony’s in the handheld news again on speculation that they may re-enter the handheld market without PalmOS. Rumor has it that Sony wasn’t happy with the direction PalmSource had in mind, so they quit. But that’s only part of the story, and the full tale hints at how and why they might return.
Like many large companies, Sony is run internally much like small separate companies that must compete for Sony’s vast but ultimately finite resources. As such, there was always a lot of tension between the Sony-Ericsson cell phone guys and the Sony Clie PDA guys. They were essentially separate and competing companies, using different system platforms and different (though similar) technologies.
Sony ain’t what they used to be. The company, once the unstoppable juggernaut of consumer electronics, has been forced in the last year to lay off thousands of employees. They have to cut costs, admit that the products they produce have to be marketable (for example, what were they thinking when they decided this was a good idea?) and reduce redundancy.
Add that to being unhappy with PalmOS’s direction, and it’s not all that surprising that the Clie group got the ax.
Now, though, we’re hearing that Sony PDAs might be back, but using Symbian as their core OS, rather than PalmOS (speculation that new Clies might be Pocket PCs running Windows Mobile is just pie-in-the-sky fantasy; it’s no advantage to Sony and they tend to avoid Microsoft whenever possible). This would allow Sony several advantages they haven’t had in the past.
First off, it’s an OS they partially control, and have much more leeway to modify than they could with PalmOS. Sony is all about “experience”, rubbing their brand name all over your stuff. Sony’s linear Launcher view and the interesting little experiment that is Clie Organizer on the TH55 were steps in that direction, Sony’s attempt to make the experience of using a Clie completely unlike using any other PDA. I think it still irked them that once the user escaped their software, Sony couldn’t do much about the look and feel of other PalmOS software. With Symbian, they can design their own interface top to bottom and make it unmistakably Sony.
Second, this would allow Sony to leverage some synergy with the Sony-Ericsson phone guys. Let’s face it, the P800 and P900 are pretty cool PDAs in their own right, and there’s a lot of experience there, especially in WAN-enhanced PDAs, that Sony can use. Having two different operating systems to maintain was also a waste of resources that Sony can now avoid.
Lastly, as there are really no Symbian-based PDAs in the US, it would give Sony the edge over both PalmOS and Windows Mobile of being able to do things their own way, and truly make the Clie unique (at least in the American market). I think the addition of a new third mobile platform with Sony’s marketing muscle would hurt Windows Mobile more than it would hurt PalmOS, since Zodiac owners notwithstanding, the customers that would like Sony’s brand of “multimedia Walkman” are probably current or prospective Pocket PC owners. (The Zodiac has little to fear from a new Clie as any new Sony PDA will downplay gaming capabilities so as not to cut into PSP sales.)
If Sony does this right, they can make the Clie what they always wanted it to be and give US consumers a viable third option in handhelds. Whether they do it is up to Sony’s management.
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